Variety: Diagramless Crossword

VARIETY PUZZLE — When we last saw Brendan Emmett Quigley, he was busy building something with tools, but today he’s deconstructing in more than one way. If you’ve never done a diagramless crossword, don’t panic about the lack of grid; you’re supposed to build it yourself, with hints from the numbering of the clues.

As you construct Mr. Quigley’s deconstruction, you’ll see that he’s deconstructed even further by gamely blowing up a set of facial features. Eyes pop, tongues get lashed, hair gets raised, jaws get dropped and ears get shattered, all in one grid. You can’t say that’s not lively.

The revealer, at 67A, tells us that we are “Suffering humiliation ...,” which is the definition of LOSING FACE.